Having been out of action for most of the past couple of weeks, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I did, however, see the original trio of Donald Trump tweets about 'The Squad' (14th July)...
(1) So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly...
(2)...and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how...
(3)...it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
...and, though having only come across BBC programmes very occasionally, I did hear a couple of reports by Nick Bryant that focused on the "go back" bit but 'forgot' to mention the "come back" bit and said to my family, 'No wonder Trump accuses the media of 'fake news''.
And, on trying to catch up, it seems as if vast swathes of the world and the media also 'forgot' the "come back" bit too in their urge to denounce the US president as "racist".
Even if Donald Trump's tweets were racist in intent or content, merely reporting him as saying "go back" and not telling people that he continued (within the same tweet) to say "then come back" is surely not honest reporting? Is it?
If a racist tells someone to 'go back where they came from', then that's unequivocal. But do racists usually tell their victims to "then come back"? I bet not.
I suspect a lot of people have already made this blindingly obvious point, but I'm still catching up and can't be sure that they have.
Whether the pro-Trump crowd chanting "Send her back!" about the antisemitic Somali-born congresswoman Ilhan Omar was being racist or not, or just registering their dislike of a highly controversial figure who they feel has been ungrateful to the country that took her in, Donald Trump was doubtless right to distance himself from them slightly. After all, he wanted her to then come back.
Anyhow, back to Nick Bryant of the impartial BBC...
The BBC's high-ups obviously had no problem whatsoever with him repeatedly stating that the President's tweets were racist - no ifs, no buts.
This is seriously-off-the-scale stuff - angry journalism making a point, relentless opinion-pushing on a matter of controversy.
Seriously, in what way is this impartial reporting?:
15 July BBC News at Six 18:13
Donald Trump was at a 'Made in the USA' business event at the White House today, showcasing the kind of economic nationalism that has become a hallmark of his America First presidency. But it's his white nationalism that's caused the latest political storm, a racist Twitter attack aimed at four women of colour, three of whom were born in the USA.
16 July BBC News at Six 18:13
Last night, the four non-white Congresswomen who were the target of the President's racist Twitter onslaught stood in shoulder to shoulder solidarity on Capitol Hill.
16 July BBC News at Ten 22:17
Last night, the four non-white Congresswomen who were the target of the President's racist Twitter onslaught stood in shoulder to shoulder in a tableau of American diversity.
17 July BBC News at Six 18:20
On Capitol Hill, fierce words of condemnation for the President's racist tweets.
17 July BBC News at Ten 22:06
The White House put out this video today - easy-listening patriotism in a week when Donald Trump's brand of nationalism has been more strident and at times racist.
18 July BBC News at Six 18:24
This is a rally that will be talked about for decades to come. After the racism of Donald Trump's original attacks on the four Congresswomen of colour came the kind of racial demagoguery we've not heard or seen from a modern-day American President.
